* Please scroll down for Covid 19 Policy
1.Cancellations and refunds
If the customer cancels a trip:
Cancellations must be submitted by email to info@smileadventures.co.uk
A full refund (minus 7% non-refundable booking fee) will be issued if a customer cancels within 5 days of a trip – not including the day of notification or day of departure.
After this time – A 50% refund will be issued if a customer cancels up to 48 hours of a trip departing.
No refund will be issued for any cancellation received less than 48 hours before the departure of a trip.
If the company cancels a trip:
If the company is forced to cancel a trip (for example due to extreme weather conditions or due to current government guidance on Covid 19) then all customers will be entitled to a full refund of their payment including all booking fees.
In this event – all customers will be notified by email and the refund will be processed within 5 working days.
2.Departure procedure & Lateness policy
All tours and trips depart from our meeting point at the coach bay outside Pret a Manger cafe Portland Street M1 1RG. This can also be found by searching ‘Smile Adventures’ on Google Maps.
No refunds are given for any passenger who misses a departure time for any reason.
It is your responsibility to arrive at the location and time printed on your booking confirmation or ticket. There is a contact number provided in your booking confirmation, as well as on our website. Please contact us if you have an issue arriving in time.
If we receive contact from you on the day of departure, then the guides have a discretionary window of up 15 minutes after the scheduled departure time in order to wait for you to arrive. If we do not receive any contact from you on the day of departure, then the trip will depart at the time advertised on your confirmation or ticket. Once a trip has departed, any bookings from passengers who are not present are considered to be void – with no recourse for a refund. We do not advise any passenger who misses a trip departure to try and join the tour at a later point, and will take no responsibility for any expenses incurred if a passenger chooses to try and do so.
Meeting times and deadlines during tours:
During our tours, Smile Adventures will set meeting times for the group to either return to an agreed point, or be back on board the coach.
It is your responsibility to make sure that you understand the times, and be back on time. Please check with our guides if you are not sure and they will confirm times.
All passengers are issued with a contact number for the tour leader on a printed itinerary at the beginning of the day. You must contact the guide if you are going to be late for a meeting time.
If no contact is made with the leader after 20 minutes of any scheduled meeting / departure time, Smile Adventures reserve the right to depart without missing passengers, and can take no responsibility for return travel arrangements from that point. Of course, if contact is made later, we can make every effort to make arrangements to meet, but cannot guarantee this if it will disrupt the tour for other passengers.
3. Safety and personal responsibility
Your responsibilities:
Personal safety – It is the sole responsibility of all passengers to ensure your own personal safety during our trips and tours, as well as anybody under the age of 16 for whom you are responsible. This includes, but is not limited to: personal injury, comfort and loss of belongings.
Clothing / comfort – Please ensure that you come prepared for ALL conditions. We strongly recommend sturdy / walking shoes for all our tours as well as layered clothing including a waterproof outer layer.
Instructions from Smile Adventures staff – It is your responsibility to ensure that you listen to all instructions and recommendations from Smile Adventures staff throughout the day, in order to make the day as enjoyable and safe as possible. This includes safety instructions on the coach, advice on safety during group activities and walking tours, safety advice related to specific tour stops and anything else that our team communicates on the day. Please seek assistance directly from our staff if you feel that you do not understand any instructions.
By purchasing a ticket to join any of our tours or trips, you are accepting that Smile Adventures can take no responsibility for your personal health and safety, outside of the bounds of that which is covered by public liability.
Our responsibilities:
Public liability – Smile Adventures Limited are covered by industry appropriate public liability cover and a copy of this is available on request.
Risk assessments – Smile Adventures Limited carry our full risk assessments on all of our activities and work in conjunction with 3rd party suppliers to reduce risk wherever possible. Copies of these are available on request.
Provision of information / instructions and warnings – Smile Adventures understand our responsibility to train all staff to ensure that we are able to give all possible safety instructions, briefings and warnings during our tours in order to contribute to safety. Our tour staff will do everything possible to give advice and warnings about any potential dangers, including but not limited to;
- crossing roads appropriately
- uneven surfaces
- fall hazards
- activity specific briefings where necessary
- required fitness levels / appropriate footwear for certain optional activities
- taking care of personal possessions
- expected behaviours / local or cultural norms
However, it is the responsibility of group members to follow this advice as far as possible, and under no circumstances can Smile Adventures staff be held accountable in the event of a group member having an accident.
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Smile Adventures Limited Covid 19 Policy (Also refered to in this policy as ‘we’ / ‘our’)
Updated 30/06/20
Scope
This policy covers the measures and procedures put in place to limit exposure of Smile Adventures staff and customers to Covid-19 as much as possible. It is informed by and subject to change in line with UK government policy and the changing Covid-19 situation.
Aims
- To outline the broad conditions under which Smile Adventures will and will not operate tours
- To put in place measures to protect staff and customers from Covid-19 while on activities with Smile Adventures, including use of PPE and safe working practices
- To identify the limits to which we can protect staff and customers
The Policy
Smile Adventures is a non-essential business and during a pandemic it is paramount for the health and well-being of the general population if businesses such as ours operate only when the government guidelines advise that it is safe to do so. We will operate during the Covid-19 pandemic only when government advice is that non-essential travel is considered safe and permissible. This is subject to the changing situation and should the advice change, we will operate in line with it. For details of refund procedures in the event of cancelled tours due to Covid 19 restrictions, please refer back to section 1 of the terms and conditions.
Smile Adventures will put measures in place on our tours to limit as much as possible the exposure of staff and customers to Covid-19. These will be in line with government advice and industry best practice and will be adapted to our business needs. Smile Adventures staff will be exemplary in their conduct regarding these measures and passengers must observe the measures in place for the health, safety and comfort of all members of the group. This list is not exhaustive and may be subject to change.
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- Coaches will be socially distanced in accordance with the current government regulations (and updated as these change) Seats will be numbered and passengers must use the same seat at all points during the tour. Exceptions may be made for young children with parents at the discretion of our staff.
- Once boarded, passengers will be permitted to disembark and re-board only once before the coach departs.
- Hand sanitiser and sterilising wipes will be provided. Passengers should use these whenever boarding the coach, and to wipe any high traffic touch points as appropriate.
- Passengers must provide their own face coverings, in line with government advice on use of public transport. In the event that a passenger arrives without a mask, one will be provided by our tour staff. Masks must be worn at all times during transit.
- Group members will be expected to follow all advice and protocols issued by Smile Adventures staff, as well as those issued by any 3rd party attractions which make up part of the tour. Repeated failure to comply with any necessary safety instructions could result in a group member being asked to leave the tour, if it is deemed that other tour members are being put at risk.
- Passengers will be asked some basic screening questions ie. if they are experiencing symptoms of Covid-19 and whether they have had contact with anyone who has been exposed to the virus.
- In line with government announcements – from 14th September, numbers of people booking together as one group will be limited to 6 people and social distancing between separate groups will be implemented on the tours.
We reserve the right to refuse travel to any passenger who does not operate within this policy. A full refund will be given for any passenger who is refused the right to travel on the grounds of not passing the screening questions.
Smile Adventures cannot eliminate risk of exposure to the virus and accepts no responsibility for any exposure incurred while on tour. The company will carry out the measures outlined above until it is deemed by the government and its own judgement that they are unnecessary. Passengers are asked to take personal responsibility for their own safety and the safety of other passengers to aid the wider societal effort to combat the virus.